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Obsession for .. Animals?

By grrlscientist on June 7, 2010.

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This fascinating video shows that Calvin Klein's "Obsession for Men" is NOT just for men! This is a great example of how careful observation of captive animals' behavior is directly impacting research with wild animals. When biologists at the Bronx Zoo started spritzing "Obsession for Men" cologne near heat-and-motion-sensitive cameras, the tigers, snow leopards, jaguars and cheetahs became curious ... very curious. And snuggly.

When zookeepers decided to get scientific about this by documenting how long cheetahs sniff a particular scent, they found that Estée Lauder's "Beautiful" occupied the cheetahs on average for just two seconds. Revlon's "Charlie" managed 15.5 seconds. Nina Ricci's "L'Air du Temps" took up to 10.4 minutes of the big cats' time. But the musky "Obsession for Men" triumphed: 11.1 minutes. That's longer than the cats usually take to savor a meal.

Wall Street Journal's Ellen Byron reports.

Tags
behavior
conservation
Endangered Species
mammals
streaming videos
zoology
animals
behavioral ecology
Big Cats
Bronx Zoo
conservation biology
Obsession for .. Animals?
Obsession for Men
perfume
Scents
strange
streaming video
Video
Weird
Wildlife Conservation Society
wow
behavior
conservation
Endangered Species
mammals
streaming videos
zoology

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My cats have always liked my husband more than me, so now I know why - he uses Obsession for Men aftershave!